Elements Of Drama

English II

Learning Objective: We will identify and describe the function of various dramatic elements

APK: Review the elements of a good story.A good story has the following:• Plot• Conflict• Basic situation• Complication• Climax• Resolution• Resolution/denouement

CFU: Pair share w/partner review the elements of plot.

Concept: Just like a regular story needs the elements of plot…

• So does a play

• A play is a story acted out, live and onstage.

Learning Objective: We will identify and describe the function of various dramatic elements

Concept: A play

• Presents characters performed by real people, in a physical setting, interacting before our eyes.

Learning Objective: We will identify and describe the function of various dramatic elements

Similarities of stories and plays

• Stories have• Characters carrying

out a series of actions• driven by a conflict of

some kind• Plot

• Plays have• Characters carrying

out a series of action• driven by a conflict of

some kind• Plot

CFU: Pair share A tell B the similarities of stories and plays

Learning Objective: We will identify and describe the function of various dramatic elements

They differ in format

• Stories• A prose narrative• Narrator describes

characters, actions, settings

• The characters’ words are marked by “quotation marks”

• Plays• Consist entirely of

characters’ words and actions.

• The playwright may describe the characters and settings in the script, but the audience never hears these stage directions.

• The audience sees and hears only the actors’ interpretations of them.

CFU: Pair share B tell A the differences between stories and plays.

Concept: What are elements of drama?

The Script for a play :• is just its beginning, like a blueprint for a

house. You can imagine what a house will look like by looking at the blueprint, but only when it’s built can you walk around and really feel what the house it like.

• It takes a team of theatrical artists to bring a play to life.

Learning Objective: We will identify and describe the function of various dramatic elements

Concept: Technical workers

• Design and create

• costumes

• scenery

• lighting

• and makeup.

Learning Objective: We will identify and describe the function of various dramatic elements

Concept:

• Tragedy:• A tragedy is the presentation of serious

and important actions that end unhappily.

• Tragic Heroes:

• Some plays portray the suffering of innocent characters.

• In most tragedies the central character is a noble figure known as the tragic hero.

Tragic Hero Con’t

• A tragic hero is a person who has a personal failing that leads to his of her downfall.

• This tragic flaw might be excessive pride, ambition, or passion – imperfections that lead the otherwise noble hero to make choices that doom him or her to a tragic end.

On Stage…

• Examples of tragic plays are Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet.

Learning Objective: We will identify and describe the function of various dramatic elements

Character foil

• A foil is a character who is used as a contrast to another character.

• Playwrights often use foils to accentuate the distinct qualities of the two characters.

• In a tragedy, foils can highlight a hero’s tragic flaw by showing an opposite virtue.

Learning Objective: We will identify and describe the function of various dramatic elements

Examples of foils

• Buddy-cop movies– Men in Black– 21 Jump Street– Bad Boys

• “Everyday Use”– Dee and Maggie

• “Through the Tunnel”– Jerry and the big boys

Dramatic Irony

• Occurs when the audience or reader knows something important that a character does not know.

• Ex: In Romeo and Juliet, the audience knows that Juliet is drugged and asleep, but her father thinks she is dead. The result is heartbreaking dramatic irony.

Learning Objective: We will identify and describe the function of various dramatic elements

Comedy

• A comedy is a simple play that ends happily.

• Like tragedy, a comedy is rooted in conflict, but the conflict in a comedy is often romantic.

• Ex. Someone wants to marry someone else but faces an obstacle – for example an opposing parent, or a rival suitor.

Comedy Con’t

• In comedy the obstacle is always overcome but not before complications which are often ridiculous.

Learning Objective: We will identify and describe the function of various dramatic elements

Dramatic Conventions

• Drama has its own conventions, or traditions, including the script and stage directions.

• The script is the text of the play. It includes all of the words that actors will speak and some instructions for the actors, designers and director.

Learning Objective: We will identify and describe the function of various dramatic elements

Speaking the Part

• Dialogue: The conversation between characters in a play .

• Monologue: a long speech made by one actor to one or more other characters onstage.

• Soliloquy: a speech by a single actor who is ALONE on stage speaking to himself or herself or to the audience.

• Playwrights often use monologues and soliloquies to develop ideas or express complex emotions.

P/S Describe the difference between a monologue and a soliloquy.

Aside: This is when a character speaks to the audience or to another character but the dialogue is not supposed to be heard by the other characters on stage.

Learning Objective: We will identify and describe the function of various dramatic elements

Stage Directions

• Scripts also include stage directions, which describe where objects are placed, as well as directions on how the actors should move and speak.

Learning Objective: We will identify and describe the function of various dramatic elements

Technical ElementsScenery (set): the theatrical equipment, such as curtains, flats, backdrops, or platforms, used in adramatic production to communicate environment

Costumes: clothing and accessories worn by actors to portray character and period.

Props: short for properties; any article, except costume or scenery, used as part of a dramatic

production; any moveable object that appears on stage during a performance, from a telephone to a train.

Technical ElementsLights: the placement, intensity, and color of lights to

Help communicate environment, mood, or feeling

Sound: the effects an audience hears during

performance to communicate character,

context, or environment

Makeup: costumes, wigs, and body

paint used to transform an actor

into a character.

Closure:

• What is one thing you learned today?

• Write it!

• Pair share it!

• Tell me about it!

Learning Objective: We will identify and describe the function of various dramatic elements